The Stuart Weitzman School of Design offers a course called "Documentation, Research Recording II."
Credit: Abhiram JuvvadiAs Stuart Weitzman Hall undergoes dramatic renovations, undergraduate students at Penn documented changes to the historic building last spring.
During the spring 2024 semester, students participated in a preservation project of the building through a course titled "Documentation, Research, Recording II." Construction on Weitzman Hall — which was built in 1892 — began in summer 2024 and is expected to conclude by the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
The class is the second installment of another course in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design by the same name. It aims to teach the elements and skills needed to create a Historic Structure Report, a standard document used in the field of historic preservation written when changes are made to a building. Students learned how to create architectural drawings and writings through photography, 3D modeling, and laser scanning.
School of Design lecturers John Hinchman and Joseph Elliot co-taught the course. When the renovations — which will drastically alter the appearance of Weitzman Hall’s interior — were announced, Hinchman and Eliot met with Historical Preservation Department Head Frank Matero to create a plan that would allow students to document the original state of the building.
“One of the things that both Joe Elliot and I appreciated about the way the building was that it was very much representative of the buildings that arts schools had when we were in school," Hinchman said. "They had temporary walls, they were kind of a little bit beat up, and one of the things we realized was that, when they redid the building, it would lose the unique historic feeling of this older building."
Before this project, students in the Documentation class had worked to document the architecture of the Holy Apostles & the Mediator Episcopal Church on South 51st Street.
Following renovations, Weitzman Hall will feature an exhibition created by the Historical Preservation Office documenting the evolution of the building’s changes. The showcase will include architectural drawings and photography by students involved in the preservation project. It will also feature historic maps of Philadelphia that indicate the various names and ownership the building has gone through since its initial construction.
According to Hinchman, who also serves as a senior research associate at the Weitzman Center for Architectural Conservation, an aspect of the renovations will include peeling back paint from the brick walls of the building to reveal the original walls. The new construction will also expose trusses in the roof of the building to maintain the "original character of the old building."
"Having the kind of record that we're creating allows people in the future to have a better understanding what the site used to be," Hinchman said.
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